mind games | tomura x reader

part 56

«─────── « ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ » ───────»

Rather than a heavy cart, I instead undocked a small plastic basket. Besides, Tomura only really wanted games. The supermarket was practically empty, but that was to be expected at such an early hour.

I could tell the cashiers didn't want to be there, since their faces only screamed agony and boredom. After looking around aimlessly and peeking my sharp view past tight corners, I needed to yawn and stretch my tensed arms out. "Aahh, oh man." I muttered, my jaw falling back into place as I extended my hands outward.

A small "Hmph!" alerted me from behind, the pitch of the voice being peculiarly high and squeaky. I turned around, worried to see what kind of stranger that I had accidentally bumped into. It was a young kid, her fawn locks of bobbed hair being knocked away from her shoulders.

"Oh, I'm sorry! Are you alright?" I asked, the palms of my hands digging into my knees as I slightly knelt down to match the eyes of the quiet girl.

But she didn't respond, and instead took cover from behind her mother's knee. The two of them looked famished, their messed hair tangled while the dry tips split. I heard a soft voice, one melodic, similar to the hums of chirping, morning birds from earlier. "No, no! It's fine, isn't that right, Haru?" her mother set aside.

"Mhm." the young girl agreed, tugging on the fraying edges of her mother's grey, tattered dress.

I looked down at the plastic basket in my hand, noticing it was empty. Originally, I had come for Tomura's games, but I had already wasted the first ten minutes apologizing to these sorry two. I excused myself from the created scene, my feet sliding across the mopped tiles and quickly making their way towards the electronic section.

"He wants Overcooked 2, the new Pikmin game-" I continued, reading the list all the way down to the bottom. Without thinking, I tossed the flimsy cartridge boxes into my plastic basket, not realizing how much of a rare sight it was. The average person doesn't walk into a supermarket, only to buy a pile-load of video games and frozen dinners.

I drifted throughout the rest of the narrow aisle, before accidentally coming across the clearance area. Many discounted items were expected, I didn't know any of the characters from these unpopular series or games, but one of them caught my eye in particular.

An All Might pin, it was a small one too. I admired the quality of the enamel "Why would this be in clearance?" I wondered, since there were no visible chips or defects on the pin. It was cute too, a lot of kids would die to get their soft hands on it. "Maybe I should get it for Tomura as a joke." I laughed.

It was only four dollars, and besides, there was nothing a lighthearted joke could do to provoke him, or at least that's what I hoped. As I continued to flip the pin in my hand, not paying attention to my crowded surroundings, the reason why it had been moved and discounted finally hit me. The people had lost their faith in heroes, there was no one we could genuinely rely on anymore.

There wasn't a lot of space in my basket, all of Tomura's expensive games piling up and crowding more than half of the crate. Just to top off the very surface, I tossed in some groceries that we needed to buy anyways. His wishlist sure was an odd one "Seriously?! Garlic bread?!" I spied on the digital note, my jaw hanging down to the tiled floor.

I wasn't sure whether or not to complete his list, the final thing being the pregnancy test he so desired. "Watch, I bet he's gonna try to use it on himself." I chuckled, trying not to alert the civilians around me.

But in the end, it was for Tomura, so I decided to finally make my way towards the pharmacy. There were several pregnancy tests to chose from, ranging from a pricing of one dollar to even ten. "These are a total scam." I argued to myself, comparing the difference in price back and forth from one another.

"Oh well." I groaned, the light pregnancy test being thrown into my basket, almost like it had flown.

I was lining up for a cashier, surprisingly there was a line. My phone started to rapidly vibrate, the resounding touch echoing through the fabric of the hoodie and onto my skin below. However, both of my hands were full, and I couldn't easily pick up.

In my pathetic attempt to do a trick, I ended up dropping my overfilling basket. Thankfully, only a few things at the top had stumbled out. I knelt down in line, carefully picking the fallen items off the dirty floor and adding them back into my array. Then I heard it, a shunned whimper or cry. "Ow!" I heard, the voice sounding childlike.

I looked up and saw them, the two from before. Due to the mother's gentle exterior, I would have never guessed that she would be the type to lay her hands on a child. Haru's hair was bundled and wrapped around her mother's knuckles, being viciously yanked out by the second. "You little brat! What do you think you're doing, adding a silly little doll when you know mommy doesn't have that kind of money?!" she caused a scene.

"Hold on! Don't fight, I can pay for her toy." I interrupted, my lips moving on their own. Haru's cheeks were swelled red, her waterline drowning in a sea of tears. It was only a raggedy doll, the good deed costing an extra eleven dollars. As the angered mother gathered her plastic bags, I watched as she dragged Haru away, back out into the parking lot.

I shrugged my shoulders back, paying for Tomura's goods like normal. Honestly, I felt accomplished with myself. A part of me even wondered if Tomura would be proud, if only he was allowed to tag along with me.

After indulging in the warmth of the supermarket, I guessed it was time that I was brought back to reality of the harsh cold. Before I could leave the perimeter, I noticed the rusty pile of junk from before, a barely-functioning sedan.

There were only two people entering that car, their heads ducking down as they tried to avoid bumping into the short roof. It was none other than the two from before, a petite, famished girl and an agitated, young mother.

⋆﹥━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━﹤⋆

authors note; it's 7 am and i cant sleep 😐

artwork by: suzitcat on Twitter
words: 1119